How was your Monday?
Here’s something that you may not know…
Half of the world’s biggest lithium mines put on the market since 2018 were bought by Chinese companies, underscoring the tightening grip of the world’s second-largest economy over the global battery metal supply chain.
Chinese firms bought 10 of the 20 lithium mines up for grabs, for an estimated $US7.9 billion ($12.3 billion), while Australian companies came a distant second, purchasing just five mines over the past five years, according to a survey of deals worth more than $US100 million by S&P Global Ratings.
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Across Markets…
The Australian sharemarket finished higher on Monday, buoyed by better than expected July retail sales data.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.6 per cent, or 44.6 points to 7159.8 at the closing bell, led by sharp gains in the consumer discretionary and healthcare sectors.
Consumer discretionary stocks extended earlier gains following the news of last month’s 0.5 per cent bounce in retail sales. Wesfarmers rallied 2.2 per cent, Tabcorp added 5 per cent and Aristocrat Leisure rose 1.4 per cent.
Fortescue Metals lost 5.1 per cent after reporting full-year results and a new CEO. The iron ore giant’s revenue decreased 3 per cent to $US16.9 billion ($26.3 billion) in financial year 2023.
Sharp losses by data centre player NextDC dragged the technology sector lower. The large-cap tech stock declined 2.6 per cent after its financial year 2024 earnings guidance was lower than the market expected.
Appen plunged 32.1 per cent following a 24 per cent drop to revenue.
The Australian dollar moved higher on Monday, rebounding from nine-month lows as China announced a series of small stimulus measures to boost its ailing economy.
The local currency rose to US64.27¢ on Monday after it last week finished flat, halting five straight weeks of losses. It touched a nine-month low of US63.63¢ mid-August, dragged lower by China’s deteriorating economic outlook and the interest rate differentials between the US and Australia.
On Sunday, Beijing announced it would halve the stamp duty on stock trading in its latest attempt to boost the struggling equity market. That followed Friday’s announcement about planning the construction of affordable housing.